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THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD

Part IV

“Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which

was, and which is to come; and from THE SEVEN SPIRITS which are

before His throne” (Rev. 1:4).

“These things saith He that hath THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD”

(Rev. 3:1).

“And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and

voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,

which are THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD” (Rev. 4:5).

“In the midst of the throne… stood a lamb as it had been slain,

having seven horns and seven eyes, which are THE SEVEN SPIRITS

OF GOD” (Rev. 5:6).

For many years we did not know that God has seven Spirits!

“Seven Spirits” means, in the original text, seven Spirits. Since this is so,

let me ask, Are there really seven Spirits of God? If you say that God

has seven Spirits, that makes you a heretic! If, on the other hand, you say

that the Spirit of God is not seven Spirits, you are contradicting the

clearly revealed Word of God! Is the Spirit of God, then, seven or one?

One of the keys to this mystery is found in the verse in Rev. 4:5:

“And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which

are the seven Spirits of God.” In the Old Testament, the structure of the

lampstand (candlestick) was quite unique: below was one lampstand,

above there were seven branches, and in each branch there was a lamp

(Ex. 25:31-37). It was one lampstand, yet it had seven lamps; there were

seven lamps, yet it was but one lampstand. Therefore, it is correct to say

that there is one lampstand, but neither is it wrong to say there are seven

lamps! So also is the Spirit of God. Without question, He is one Spirit.

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“For there is… ONE SPIRIT” (Eph. 4:4). But this one Spirit is also

called “the seven Spirits,” that is, the sevenfold, intensified Spirit of

God.

Seven, in the scriptures, was the most sacred number of the

Hebrews. This number is used more often, in the Word of God, than all

other numbers, save the number ONE. It is the number denoting

spiritual perfection and completeness. In this connection it is interesting

to note that in the title “Holy Spirit” the word “holy,” according to

Webster, comes from a root meaning “whole”. Hence, the “Holy Spirit”

is simply the “Whole Spirit”! The seven Spirits of God, seven denoting

spiritual perfection and completeness, are likewise a figure of the “Holy”

or “whole” or “complete” SPIRIT. When we understand that the number

seven conveys the idea of unity and completeness, rather than diversity,

then we can see with unclouded vision that the seven Spirits of God are

the sevenfold, intensified Spirit of the Lord – the absolute FULLNESS

OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD!

This is the fulfillment of the ancient type, the candlestick which

stood in the Holy place of the tabernacle in the wilderness, which was

made of pure gold (divine nature) and had seven golden lampstands and

seven lamps burning pure olive oil, a symbol of the Spirit of God. In the

book of Revelation, not only are the seven lamps said to be the seven

Spirits of God, but also the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb are

the seven Spirits. The Lamb has been given all POWER (horns) and the

Lamb has full understanding and perception (eyes). George Hawtin has

written:

“I am powerless to describe the magnificence that is here, – seven

Spirits of God blazing as seven lamps of fire, radiating forth the perfect

light! As the seven lamps of the candlestick are but one candlestick, so

also the seven Spirits are but one Spirit, even the holy Spirit of God. The

seven horns of power on the head of one lamb, even the Lamb of God,

are but one Spirit of power, and the seven eyes likewise are one Spirit of

God. .Wonderful beyond words are the glories portrayed here, but our

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hearts well nigh stand still as we behold with John the dazzling glory

that appeared before him. John saw one sitting upon a throne, and He

that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was

a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald. A

rainbow is one but it has seven colors, and the seven colors of that

glorious rainbow represent the sevenfold Spirit of God, even as the

seven lamps of fire, the seven horns, and the seven eyes.

“The first rainbow that ever appeared to men was a promise and a

covenant from God to assure the world of His goodness and mercy. Here

again it appears in the glorious age that even now casts its rays of dawn

upon us, promising the world that all its inhabitants will be governed in

righteousness by the elect whom God has chosen and upon whom shall

rest forever the seven Spirits of God. And there was a rainbow round

about the throne! What a magnificent promise for a benighted world that

from time immemorial has known nothing but unrighteous government!

“These are the seven Spirits continually before the throne of God

by which the world will be governed in righteousness. These are the

Spirits that will rest upon all the sons of God in that great kingdom when

the whole world shall be governed in righteousness by that man whom

God hath chosen. It was of these seven Spirits that John spoke when he

wrote, ‘John to the seven churches which are in Asia; Grace be unto you

and peace from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and

from the seven Spirits which are before His throne.’ Rev. 1:4.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit without

measure. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the One who has the seven Spirits of

God “The things saith He that HATH THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD”

(Rev. 3:1). Our Lord Jesus Christ is the great giver, the great shedder-

forth of the seven Spirits of God (Rev. 5:6). “But the ANOINTING

which ye have received of Him abideth in you… the same anointing

teacheth you… (I Jn. 2:27). “But yet have an UNCTION from the Holy

One, and ye know all things” (I Jn 2:20). The words unction and

anointing awaken recollections of the holy anointing oil poured upon the

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heads of each successor to the offices of High Priest and King in Israel.

As the people of Israel were typical of “the true Israel of God,” so their

priests and kings were typical of Christ, the great antitypical High Priest

and King. And as their priests and kings were anointed with the “holy

anointing oil” as an induction into office, so our Lord Jesus was anointed

with the Holy Spirit at the time of the beginning of His ministry. He thus

became the Christ – the anointed of Yahwey.

The elect church is to be a “royal priesthood” (king-priests) under

their Lord and Head – “members of the body of the Anointed (the

Christ)” (I Pet. 2:9; I Cor. 12:12-13,27). The Holy Spirit of anointing

which came to our Lord Jesus at His baptism at Jordan, and with “all

power in heaven and in earth,” when He was raised from the dead by the

Spirit of Holiness (Mat. 28:18; Eph. 1:19-20; Rom. 1:4), He “shed forth”

or poured out as the antitypical anointing oil upon the members of His

body at Pentecost. There thenceforth to all those who are truly united

with Him as members of His body by the power of the Spirit. This

consecrated, anointed body is recognized as “the very elect” of God, and

anointed of Him to rule and bless all nations after first being “taught of

God” under the guidance of the anointing Spirit.

The signification of unction (and of its Greek original “chrisma”)

is smoothness, oiliness, lubrication. From custom the word carried with

it also the thought of fragrance, perfume. How beautifully and forcefully

this word represents the out-raying of the nature and character of God

from those who come under this antitypical anointing – holiness,

gentleness, kindness, knowledge, wisdom, power – love! What a sweet,

pure perfume does this anointing of the Holy Spirit of God’s glory bring

with it to all who receive it!

THE SPIRIT “BY MEASURE” AND “WITHOUT MEASURE”

In relation to this anointing of the Holy Spirit upon both Head and

body of the many-memered Christ, there is one important distinction to

be always remembered; vis., that our Lord Jesus, the Head of the body,

received the Holy Spirit WITHOUT MEASURE, unlimitedly (Jn. 3:34),

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while His body, up to this preent time, has received the Spirit BY

MEASURE, or limitedly – a measure of the Spirit being given to every

member in the body. Paul tells us in Rom. 12:3-8, “For I say… to every

man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he

ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every

man THE MEASURE of faith. For… all members have not the same

office… having gifts differing according to the grace that is given.” And

again, “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure

of the gift of Christ… from whom the whole body fitly joined together

and compacted by that which every joints supplies, according to the

effectual working IN THE MEASURE of every part, maketh increase of

the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:7,16).

The reason for this difference between the measure of anointing on

the Head, Jesus, and the body is that our Lord came and walked as a

perfect man, while we, the members of His body, although accepted in

the beloved are actually very imperfect. The perfect man Jesus, as the

very image of the Father, could be in the fullest harmony with God and

with His Spirit of holiness and power, in every and all particulars; but in

proportion to the degredation through the fall, our harmony with God

and His Spirit has been impaired. No imperfect mortal is capable of

receiving the Lord’s Spirit to the full, and it would be dangerous beyond

comprehension for one to so receive, even if he were capable! Can you

imagine unlimited, ALMIGHTY POWER at the disposal of men still

walking in a carnal nature? No imperfect mortal is capable of receiving

God’s Spirit to the full because it is impossible for him to be in absolute

harmony with God in every particular. This is why the writer to the

Hebrews exhorted the Lord’s people: LET US GO ON TO

PERFECTION! This is why Paul pointed out in Ephesians chapter four

that God has placed ministry-gifts in the body of Christ “for the

PERFECTING OF THE SAINTS… till we all come… unto a PERFECT

MAN, unto the measure of the stature of THE FULLNESS OF

CHRIST” (Eph. 4:11-16). Thus we can see that it is only in perfection

that one can know THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST. And hence, amongst

those apprehended ones, who consecrate themselves, and who receive

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the Holy Spirit of adoption, we find the Spirit possessed in different

measures depending upon the degree of our departure from the divine

image, and the degree of grace, faith, and maturity attained since coming

into the body of Christ.

To the extent that the apprehended ones resign themselves to the

Lord, and, ignoring their own wills and way, seek to walk in His ways,

they come to be “led by the Spirit,” “taught of the Spirit,” and can “serve

the Lord in newness of Spirit.” To continue under this leading and

instruction they must have a Spirit of meekness” (Gal. 5:22, 23; 6:1), so

that the “God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,” can give

unto them the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of

Him; the eyes of their understanding being enlightened, that they may

know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of

His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:17-18). It is only through being

“conformed to the image of His Son” that we can qualify, and become

capable of receiving that same measure of the absolute fullness of the

Spirit of God that Jesus possessed. The initial infilling of the Spirit is a

free “gift,” but the fullness of God must be appropriated from glory to

glory and pressed into.

In Jn. 1:1 and 14 we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the

Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made

flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the

only begotten of the Father, FULL of grace and truth.” Here we find that

Jesus was FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH. Then verse 16 tells us,

“And OF HIS FULLNESS have all we received, and grace for grace.”

This does not say that we have received His fullness, but “OF His

fullness.” The Amplified Bible reads: “For OUT OF HIS FULLNESS

(abundance) we all received – all had a share and we were all supplied

with – one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual

blessing, and even favor upon favor and gift heaped upon gift.” If I have

a million dollars in the bank and withdraw “of” or “out of” my account, I

withdraw only a portion, a part, a measure of my abundance. Similarly,

Jesus was FULL of grace and truth, and as we receive “OF His fullness”

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we receive a measure of that fullness which is in Him, but, bless His

name! an ever increasing measure, for it is ever “grace for grace” or

“one grace after another”.

Fullness is relative. It is relative to the capacity of that which is

being filled, and the abundance of that with which it is being filled. It is

like a balloon. You can blow several puffs of air into a balloon and the

balloon is, by definition, full of air. There is air from side to side, from

end to end, and there is no place within the balloon where there is not

air. And yet, you can still blow more air into the balloon! The balloon is

full, but it possesses the unique characteristic of being able to be

EXPANDED, its capacity being INCREASED and ENLARGED due to

this ability to stretch. So, although at any given point the balloon is full,

you can just keep on blowing and blowing until the rubber stretches to

its limit. Thus it can be seen that, under proper conditions, it IS

POSSIBLE to be full and yet CONTAIN MORE after you have been

filled! When we were first baptized in the Holy Spirit we were indeed

“filled” with the Spirit, as were those on the day of Pentecost, but we

were only filled in proportion to our capacity – our ability to contain

Him! We held all of God that we were capable of holding at that point.

We really were full of the Spirit, but we now know that we can still

receive MORE, becoming filled with ever increasing measures of His

fullness! God is wanting to EXPAND US FROM WITHIN, to increase

our capacity, to enlarge our spiritual amplitude. Hallelujah!

It is right at this point that the average Christian sells himself short.

Especially the average Pentecostal or Charismatic! How many of the

Lord’s precious people who seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit are

mistakenly seeking a blessing, or an experience. To speak with tongues

is often their highest aim, or to be “slain under the power,” and if they

can attain to that phenomenon then they are happy and satisfied in their

belief that they have received all, or at least almost all, that God has for

them in this life. How pitiful is such an understanding! How desperately

short we sell ourselves when we seek the Holy Spirit as an “experience”

that we are to attain instead of presenting ourselves as empty vessels to

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be filled with all the incomprehensible inexhaustibleness of GOD! This

Spirit, who IS GOD and is sent forth by God, full of wisdom and truth,

understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and glory brings in His

mighty fullness ever increasing measures of His own unlimited and

unfathomable abundance. Yea, God would fill us and then expand us

that He might fill us the more, and yet again, and again, until we attain

even that “measure of the stature of the FULLNESS OF CHRIST,”

Which measure is nothing less than the absolute fullness of HIM THAT

FILLETH ALL IN ALL!

The measure of God unto which we have been called has been seen

in Christ. “For it pleased the Father that in Him should ALL FULLNESS

dwell” (Col. 1:19). “For in Him dwelleth ALL THE FULLNESS of the

Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). Though we, as members of His body, have

received “of” that fullness, yet the Father is concerned in this hour that

there come to pass a further ENLARGEMENT of our capacities to

contain Him, for He seeks a body through which He can manifest all the

fullness of Himself to the creation. Paul prayed for the Ephesian

believers unto this end: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;

that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend

with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height (of

capacity); that ye might be FILLED WITH

A-L-L THE FULLNESS OF GOD” (Eph. 3:17-19). Only the Spirit of

wisdom and revelation can minister to our yearning hearts the full

comprehension of what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height

of the supply of God in the Spirit and of our capacity to contain Him.

But one thing God would have us know and understand in all simplicity

– the increase of our capacity COMES THROUGH OUR GROWTH AS

MEMBERS OF CHRIST”S BODY.

Hear now the word of the Lord! “But speaking the truth in love,

may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from

whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which

every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure

of every part, MAKETH INCREASE (enlargement) OF THE BODY

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unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph 4:15-16). Yes, there is an

increase, and enlarging of the body, and with that increase comes an

expanded capacity for containing HIM!

In the natural a baby begins eating solid food by taking only half of

a small jar of baby food. When he has finished that small quantity he is

FULL. But at age six, will he still be eating half of a jar of baby food?

Certainly not! By then he will be eating a child’s plate at the restaurant.

It will take the portion on the child’s plate to fill him. Progressively,

over the period of six years, his capacity has been enlarged! The growth

and development of his physical body has produced this. And he will

keep right on growing, expanding, enlarging, increasing his capacity

until he arrives at the FULL STATURE OF MANHOOD. Then he will

be able to eat a 16 oz. steak with salad, baked potato, vegetable, coffee

and dessert! And so we read in Col. 2:19, “And… holding the Head,

from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment

ministered… INCREASETH WITH THE INCREASE OF GOD.”

Hallelujah! Press on saints, for we are increasing with the increase of

God! Don’t stop now – wherever you are! If you have been born again

by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, you have only been

wrapped in the swaddling clothes of your spiritual existence. If you have

been baptized in the Spirit you have merely taken your first baby step

into the Kingdom! If you speak with tongues, prophesy, see visions, heal

the sick and cast out devils, you are yet in the kindergarten of God’s

glorious and eternal reality! The burning desire within my heart in the

end of this age is that God’s people might with me become aware that

there is yet before us the full comprehension of what truly is the breadth,

length, depth and height of that realm available to us where abides ALL

THE FULLNESS OF GOD. When the majesty of this transcendent

potential breaks upon our groaning spirits we shall cease to glory in the

fact that we are Evangelical Christians, or Pentecostal Christians, or

Charismatic Christians, or even “end-time” saints, or “new-day” saints –

for we shall perceive that WE ARE NOTHING AS WE OUGHT TO

BE, for truly that portion of our inheritance which lies before us is

greater and grander than all we have possessed up to this present time!

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THE SEVENFOLD BRIGHTNESS OF GOD’S GLORY

This fullness of which we speak is THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF

GOD. As we have previously noted, the seven lamps of fire burning

before the throne of God are the seven Spirits of God. The seven horns

and the seven eyes of the Lamp upon the throne are the seven Spirits of

God. John saw one sitting upon a throne, and He that sat was to look

upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow about

the throne in sight like unto an emerald. A rainbow is one but it has

seven colors, and the seven colors of that glorious rainbow represent the

sevenfold intensified fullness of the Spirit of God, even as the seven

lamps of fire, the seven horns, and the seven eyes are the seven Spirits of

God.

When the fullness of these seven Spirits of God is realized in the

body of Christ then shall be fulfilled that which was spoken by the

prophet Isaiah, saying, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory

of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the

earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee,

and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles (nations) shall

COME TO THY LIGHT, and kings to THE BRIGHTNESS OF THY

RISING” (Isa. 60:1-3). In that day it shall also come to pass that “the

light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the

SUN (the glory of Christ) SHALL BE SEVENFOLD, as the light of

seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people,

and healeth the stroke of their wound (the work of restoration in the last

days)” (Isa. 30:26). Malachi prophesied of this day too, saying, “But

unto you that fear My name shall the SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

ARISE with healing in His wings… and ye shall tread down (overcome)

the wicked… in the day that I shall do this saith the Lord of hosts” (Mal.

4:2-3).

God’s promise is the sending forth of the Sun of Righteousness

(Christ), not in the single light of the man Christ Jesus (Mat. 4:13-16),

nor yet in the double portion of the Spirit, the former and latter rain in

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the first month, upon the end-time body of Christ, but AS THE LIGHT

OF SEVEN DAYS CONCENTRATED IN ONE. Many are the figures

of this coming sevenfold glory of Christ upon His people. When Jesus

was on the mount of transfiguration His face shone as the sun. Saul of

Tarsus, on the road to Damascus, experienced something of that

brightness and was completely transformed. In the book of Revelation

we read of a symbolic angel which came down from heaven and his

countenance was as the sun shining in its brightness. In chapter twelve

of that book we read of a woman, the Bride of Christ, clothed with the

sun, having the moon under her feet. In chapter one John saw one like

unto the Son of man, even Jesus, glorified in that body of sons who are

conformed to His image, and of Him he witnessed, “His eyes were as a

flame of fire… and His countenance was AS THE SUN SHINETH IN

HIS STRENGTH” (Rev. 1:14-16). Isaiah looked forward to this day and

described the dawning of this day of the revelation of God’s glory,

saying, “Then shall THY LIGHT BREAK FORTH AS THE

MORNING, and thy health (restoration) shall spring forth speedily: and

thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy

reward” (Isa. 58:8). Solomon wrote poetically of this army of the Lord:

“Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, CLEAR

AS THE SUN, and terrible as an army with banners” (S. of S. 6:10)?

The Church of Jesus Christ must move out of the darkness of

tradition, bondage, carnality, immaturity and limitation and move into

the bright light of the fullness of the glory of God. The history of the

Church is a history of darkness and sorrow and bitterness. But, thank

God, rays of promise are even now beginning to break forth from the

heavens, and there is a small company of apprehended ones who are

even now rising up into realms of the Spirit to drink in the intoxicating

freshness of the morn! To them God is witnessing that He shall bring

forth a light that is sevenfold in its intensification, so that there will be

nothing hidden from it, and its heat and brightness will consume and

destroy everything that opposes. Nothing short of this will lift up this

sin-cursed world out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of

God’s dear Son.

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The early Church with all its glory and power did not bring in the

kingdom. Its glory was eclipsed, producing that which even secular

history records as the Dark Ages. The Reformation in Martin Luther’s

day was unable to bring the kingdom in. All the mighty revivals of

Church history failed to deliver the groaning creation. The Pentecostal

and Charismatic movements have not done so either, neither shall they.

All the methods and programs of religion, all the missionary and

evangelistic crusades, all the deliverance ministries and healing

campaigns, have in turn failed to turn this old world around from its path

to destruction. The Bible Societies, the door-to-door witnessing

campaigns, the tons of Gospel tracts, prayer meetings, the Christian

radio and television broadcasting, and all the other feverish activities and

promotions by the world’s Churches have not gotten the job done.

All of us are thankful to God for what we have known of His

power, we rejoice for every evidence of the power and glory of God

today, and we are thankful to God for everyone who is demonstrating

today any measure of the life of God, and accomplishing anything unto

His glory; but to break the dominion of sin and Satan over the nations in

this hour of overshrouding gloom and darkness will require a

SEVENFOLD REVELATION OF THE LOVE AND POWER OF

GOD! God intends to send forth this sevenfold brightness of His life,

light, glory, love, grace, righteousness, peace, joy and power.

Scientifically we know that there is no greater consuming, purifying, and

life-giving power than light, and the brightness of the light of God will

bring judgment upon all the evil of this wicked and adulterous

generation, and clarification and quickening in the minds and souls of

men everywhere.

I would not want to be a politician, president or prime minister in

the governments of the world today. Everyday more darkness and

perplexity descends upon the minds and hearts of the people. None of

the princes of this world have the answers to solve the problems of this

dark day. But, blessed be God! HE has the answer! His answer is to arise

upon the body of Christ in THE SEVENFOLD BRIGHTNESS OF HIS

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GLORY! When this happens, and that glorious company of God’s Sons

are manifested, then shall come to pass that of which our Lord spoke

when He said, “The works that I do shall ye do also, and GREATER

WORKS THAN THESE SHALL YE DO” (Jn. 14:12).

MOVING FROM GIFTS TO FULLNESS

I have observed in the ministry of Jesus that there was never a

problem He faced that He could not solve, never a need that He could

not meet, no victory He could not win, no realm of revelation or

relationship to God that He could not possess. Some of us speak of the

exploits we have done in Jesus’ name, but we seldom mention all the

times we have failed! Some of us fast and pray and wrest an answer

from the Lord and then run squarely into another problem that we can’t

solve at all. If Jesus Christ, the firstborn Son, needed the seven Spirits of

God, the Spirit without measure, then we as His body need them too!

It is interesting to note that nowhere in the Gospels is the

supernatural ministry of Jesus Christ ever associated with the gifts of the

Spirit. No place does it ever say that Jesus ever received or operated in a

gift of the Spirit. However, like most of us, I assumed that He did! And I

could always make it fit. Everytime Jesus healed someone I assumed

that He exercised the gift of healing, although the scripture didn’t say so.

Everytime He prophesied coming events I said that He exercised the gift

of prophecy, although the Holy Spirit and the scripture never said so.

Everytime He spoke to a Nathanael, revealing the secrets of his heart, I

said that He spoke a “word of knowledge” although the Record says no

such thing. How is it that Jesus did not move in the gifts of the Spirit?

Because when you function in the gifts you function in LIMITATION!

Paul said of the gift realm: “Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;

whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge,

it shall vanish away. For WE KNOW (in the gift of knowledge) IN

PART, and WE PROPHESY IN PART. But when that which is perfect

(the full measure, the seven Spirits) is come, then that which is in part

SHALL BE DONE AWAY” (I. Cor. 13:8-10). Yes, my friend, the gifts

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are A-L-L IN PART! The secret of the ministry of Jesus, then, was that

it was not in part, NOT IN LIMITATION! In the realm of that which is

in part, in limitation, one cannot meet every need that arises. “Are ALL

apostles? are ALL prophets? are ALL teachers? are ALL workers of

miracles? have ALL the gifts of healing? do ALL speak with tongues?

do ALL interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts” (I Cor. 12:29-31).

Does it say in I Cor. 12:8: “To the WHOLE CHURCH is given the word

of wisdom?” No, it says, “To ONE,” to one member of the body of

Christ. “To ANOTHER the word of knowledge,” or faith, healing,

prophecy, etc. In other words, there is a distribution here, a selection, so

that everyone does not have all the gifts. How can you meet every need

if you don’t possess all the gifts? And how can you meet every need,

even in the area of the gift you do possess, if your gift is IN PART? You

can’t! You can try, you can fast and pray, you can think positively, you

can boast of your faith and inheritance in Christ, but you can’t meet

every need, solve every problem, in the gift realm which is in part! In

that realm it is always just a word here, a miracle there, a failure there, a

success here, a failure there. But the ministry of Jesus was not in the gift

realm, nor in the realm of New Testament Church economy, but His was

the ministry of a SON OF GOD in all the power and glory of the Father!

For many years now there has been a great moving of the Spirit of

God across the land and around the world. It has manifested itself

through many movements on various levels. We have witnessed great

evangelistic ministries, the divine healing ministry, the restoration of the

New Testament Church order with its five-fold ministry of apostles,

prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, the nine gifts of the Spirit,

and confirmation of the ministries through prophecy with the laying on

of hands. But I can testify to you that none of these ministries have come

within the range of the ministry of Jesus Christ. No matter which of the

healing evangelists you watched, no matter what prophets you heard, no

matter what miracle, sign or wonder, it did not measure up to the

ministry of THE SON OF GOD. We kept saying, “We have the same

anointing, the same Holy Ghost, the same power, and we can do all the

works Jesus did!” And as hard as we tried, and as much as we wanted to

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believe it, it still just wasn’t true! We had the same anointing alright, and

the same Holy Spirit, and the same power, but, we had it BY

MEASURE – not WITHOUT MEASURE, as did Jesus!

This puzzeled me for many years. Then one day the Spirit drew my

attention to a scripture in Isa. 11:1-2. “And there shall come forth a rod

out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and

the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and

understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge

and of the fear of the Lord.” This does not say that Jesus would receive a

“gift” of “the word of wisdom.” It says that what He received was the

SPIRIT OF WISDOM. It doesn’t say that Jesus had a “gift of healing” or

a “gift of miracles.” He received, instead, the SPIRIT OF MIGHT. Jesus

didn’t have just a “gift” of “the word of knowledge.” He possessed THE

SPIRIT OF KNOWLEDGE! Not a fragmentary word of wisdom here, or

a fragment word of knowledge there, or a gift of healing operating

tonight and a gift of prophecy operating tomorrow night. No! Upon the

firstborn Son rested all the fullness of the sevenfold Spirit of Sonship,

even as Isaiah prophesied of Him, saying,

“The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,

The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding;

The Spirit of Counsel and Might,

The Spirit of Knowledge and Fear of the Lord.”

This sevenfold Spirit of God is the fullness of the wisdom, glory,

nature and power of God. This is the Spirit WITHOUT MEASURE.

This is the SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD. This is the sevenfold

BRIGHTNESS OF GOD’S GLORY! “Not by might, nor by power, but

by MY SPIRIT, saith the Lord!” (Zech. 4:6). This is why Jesus Christ

could heal every disease, could cast out every kind of devil, could raise

the dead – even after they were decayed and stinking – could discern

every thought and intent of men’s hearts, could command all the

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elements of nature, and even die and rise again from the dead! Some of

us have been able to do a very limited amount of this. Some of us have

had a gift of healing and have healed some sick people, but who has

healed them ALL, even in one meeting? I heard Oral Roberts many

years ago admit that only about one out of every five people he has laid

hands upon have received any discernable touch from God. Some of us

have been healed ourselves, but who among us has been healed EVERY

TIME? Some of us have prophesied, have had a word of knowledge, but

which one has had every word that he has ever spoken come to pass?

Some of us have had miracles of supply: gas put in our gas tanks,

batteries charged, money sent through the mail from unexpected sources,

etc. But who among us has walked on the sea or fed five thousand men,

plus women and children, with five small loaves and two fishes? Some

have had their countenances lighted by the joy of the Lord, but who has

stood on the Mount of Transfiguration with even their raiment shining as

the brightness of the noon-day sun?

FULLNESS AT THE END OF THE AGE

When we look out into the natural realm in this hour, at the end of

the age, we see the natural man doing exploits in the natural realm. We

see man sailing in atomic powered submarines, in the depths of the sea,

sailing under the polar ice caps. We see man soaring through the skies

faster than the speed of sound, and going out in space to explore distant

planets. In the fields of science and technology man is accomplishing the

incomprehensible, breaking all bonds of limitation. This was prophesied

for our day! “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book,

even TO THE TIME OF THE END: many shall run to and fro, and

knowledge shall be increased” (Dan. 12:4). But that natural revolution is

only a figure of things to come in the spiritual. Why this sudden progress

in the natural world? Because it is now time for a great change in the

spiritual world!

Is the Church of Jesus Christ to end this dispensation in failure and

defeat? Is a little flock of faithful saints to undergo an emergency

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“evacuation” by a “rapture” at the last moment just before the devil

takes over the whole world? Not if the Word of God is true! Said Daniel

of this day: “But the people that do know their God SHALL BE

STRONG, and DO EXPLOITS” (Dan. 11:32). God is going to have a

people that will be “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an

army with banners.” Yes, a people who, in the darkness of this hour,

shall “arise and shine” until the nations come to their light and kings to

the BRIGHTNESS OF THEIR RISING. Hallelujah! Some folks say that

the “rapture” is the next thing on the agenda, that God must deliver us

out of this “mess”, and that Jesus may come at ANY MINUTE! Now you

can forget about that!

Only under the sevenfold intensified fullness of the Spirit of God

can this mighty work be accomplished. It is important that God’s people

understand that the gifts of the Spirit, the Spirit by measure, the earnest

(down-payment) of the Spirit is given for the EDIFICATION OF THE

BODY OF CHRIST and not for knocking Satan off his throne and

bringing in the kingdom of God. The gifts of the Spirit are in the initial

moving of the Spirit – the Spirit by measure. God intends that His sons

shall move into the fullness of the sevenfold Spirit of Sonship in these

last days. “And there shall be upon every high mountain (kingdom), and

upon every high hll, rivers and streams of waters (the flowing of the life-

giving Spirit of God) in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers

(principalities and powers of darkness) fall. Moreover the light of the

moon (old-order Church) shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of

the sun (Jesus and the sons of God) SHALL BE SEVENFOLD, AS THE

LIGHT OF SEVEN DAYS” (Isa. 30:25-26).

“For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God

giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him” (Jn. 3:34). Jesus Christ, the

firstborn SON, the first SON to be SENT BY THE FATHER, was not

limited, and now He says, “As My Father hath sent Me, so SEND I

YOU” (Jn. 20:21). Paul wrote: “For whom He did foreknow, He also did

predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be

the firstborn AMONG MANY BRETHREN” (Rom. 8:29). God is

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SENDING SONS in these last days, and if He is not sending SONS then

He has no one else to send for every other Church, revival, movement,

method and effort has fallen short of putting all enemies under His feet

and taking the kingdom. They have all failed for they have all been IN

PART. “For the earnest expectation of the creation WAITETH FOR

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD” (Rom. 8:19). The

only way for us to be the sons of God is for God to give us the Spirit

without measure. This belongs to those apprehended to be sons. This is

the anointing which God would send in this hour.

The triumphant risen glorified Lamb of God seen in the midst of

the throne by John has seven horns and seven eyes, which are the

SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD SENT FORTH INTO ALL THE EARTH.

You can never come to share His throne without possessing the seven

Spirits of the Lamb upon the throne. Those under this sevenfold

anointing sent forth into all the earth are those who in His dominion

shall bring deliverance to the whole creation.

How often we ask, “Why have we still been faced with failure?

Why have we been limited? Why have we not seen more happening?” I

will tell you why! There is nothing worse than a partial success. There is

nothing worse than seeing a few more people saved, a few more people

healed, a few more baptized in the Spirit, a few more gifts and

manifestations of the Spirit in our midst, because any Church or minister

who has that kind of PARTIAL SUCCESS will think, “Praise God, this is

great!” And will SETTLE FOR IT. All of us are so constituted! If you

have just enough to show that you are alive and that God is still working,

you are satisfied. I will tell you what God is doing in this hour. He is

doing just the opposite to what most folk believe He is doing today than

ever before in history. That is not true! We are seeing MORE PEOPLE

being affected by the moving of the Spirit GREATER NUMBERS of

people involved in this end-time move, but we are NOT seeing greater

miracles today than ever before, we are NOT seeing more spectacular

healings, nor more supernatural signs and wonders, nor more anointed

praise. Nor a more forceful or pure flow of prophetic utterance. We are

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witnessing an increase in QUANTITY in the things of the Spirit, but I

declare unto you that at the same time we are seeing a DECREASE in

the QUALITY of the manifestations of the Spirit of God. And this is of

GOD! God has limited us, He has weakened our strength until we are

beginning to realize: Oh God, we can do nothing to meet the need! We

are NOTHING AS WE OUGHT TO BE! The situations are too great for

us!” God is doing this that we might not trust any longer in our

PARTIAL SUCCESS, that we might not rest in the “in part” realm of the

Spirit, but that we shall cry out unto the Lord until he moves afresh in

the earth and brings forth in us THE SEVENFOLD BRIGHTNESS OF

HIS GLORY!

What a high, holy, heavenly calling! And how reminiscent of

Paul's statement in Eph. 2:4-7: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His

great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath

quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and

made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages

to come He might SHOW the exceeding riches of His grace in His

kindness toward us through Jesus Christ." So vast, so marvelous are the

wonders of His grace, it will require the ages to come to continue to

unfold these wonders, and He has purposed that there should be a people

through whom He would give this demonstration that in the ages to

come He might show..." "Show" is from a Greek word meaning "to

exhibit, to put on display like a work of art, to demonstrate." The

Amplified Bible reads, "He did this that He might CLEARLY

DEMONSTRATE through the ages to come the immeasurable

(limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace in Kindness and goodness

of heart toward us in Christ Jesus." Kenneth Wuest translates, "In order

that He might EXHIBIT. . . in the ages that pile themselves upon one

another in continuous succession the surpassing wealth of His grace in

kindness to us in Christ Jesus." Show… demonstrate… exhibit the riches

of His grace – unto whom? Not to those who already know it – that

would be useless nonsense. But to those who do not know it! To the

whole vast creation of men and worlds who dwell in darkness with the

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insatiable desire to receive, but to whom has never been revealed the

true and eternal and unbounded source of life and reality.

Ah, God is preparing a divine show for all the earth, indeed for the

entire universe. The mighty Barnum, in describing his circus, said it was

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. True, Mr. Barnum was a great

showman and, for its kind, he had a great show, but God is the Master

Showman and is preparing to give the world THE GREATEST SHOW

IT HAS EVER SEEN. It is a theatrical of MERCY and GRACE and

LOVE in a world of wrath and violence. This will be God's master

stroke as the curtain rises on the world's greatest drama – God's Great

Show – THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD! Praise His

name, once the finishing touch is put on the last stone of His living

temple of Kings and Priests, the firstfruits of His redemption, in ages yet

to come He shall put His grace and kindness inwrought in us ON

DISPLAY so that the entire creation may walk across the stage of His

cosmic theatre and behold and see and finally come to understand and

appreciate WHAT. GOD HAS PROVIDED FOR ALL MEN IN

CHRIST. All who have ears to hear must hear what the Spirit is saying

to the Churches. Across the land and around the world the Spirit is

saying today that He is preparing a people, He is preparing a body, He is

preparing sons who shall be conformed to the image of His Son, who

shall be partakers of the divine nature, who shall have the mind of

Christ, who shall be brought to glory and who then shall become the

very express image of the Father, the brightness of the Father's glory and

the outraying of the Father's person. These shall receive of His fullness

until they have within themselves conquered all sin, sickness and death.

God is now preparing sons, God is now preparing a body for that first

Son, we are the body of the first Son, the body of the Christ, the body of

the King of glory, the body of the great High Priest in the heavens after

the order of Melchizedek. We are the body of the Giver and in and

through these sons, when all have been brought to His fullness, having

received of all His glorious and eternal reality, His salvation shall be

manifested, exhibited, and demonstrated unto the ends of the earth and

unto worlds yet unknown. The Lord is saying to His people in this day:

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"For this cause have I raised thee up and sent thee to be a light unto the

nations and thou shalt BE MY SALVATION to the ends of the earth"

(Isa. 49:6; Acts. 13:47).

When those who treasure the beautiful hope of sonship speak the

words the Spirit is speaking to the Churches in this hour, people

demand, "Who do you think you are?" When we declare that we are

called to be the manifested sons of God, to grow up into the measure of

the stature of the fullness of Christ, to partake of a greater ministry than

that of the Church-age, to set all creation free and reconcile all things in

heaven and in earth back into God, people ask, "Just who do you think

you are?" It really makes no difference who WE think we are, but it

makes a great deal of difference that we know WHO AND WHAT WE

ARE APPREHENDED TO BE IN HIM. Our ears have heard the sound

of the trumpet, we cannot – dare not – settle for anything less, we must

follow on to know Him in all His wonderful fullness, to desire to receive

of all that He is and has so that we can in turn become His Givers unto

all. HE THAT HATH AN EAR LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT

SAITH. Let us not sell creation short in these days. The whole creation

is groaning and travailing together in pain to be delivered from the

bondage of corruption. Mankind is sick and tired of sin and fear and

hatred and sorrow and pain and empty religious platitudes, rituals,

ceremonies and doctrines. The whole race is gripped by the most intense

DESIRE TO RECEIVE – there is everywhere an unprecedented hunger

for deliverance, life and reality. Let us not deny the Lord who purchased

us to be a Kingdom of Priests. While we seek no glory of our own, there

is, nevertheless, great wealth and heavenly glory for all who fulfill all

the will of God. You never lose with God. You are never diminished by

giving, you are never impoverished by pouring out all that you are and

have. There is an interesting fact in connection with the life of the great

missionary, Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor's brother desired above all

things to be famous and so he scorned the Christian life and scoffed at

his brother's zeal to pour out his life as a missionary among the

impoverished and ignorant heathen. He went into business and politics

to become famous. Over a century has now passed and throughout the

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whole world the name of Hudson Taylor is well known, and in writings,

when it does appear, his brother is referred to as "Hudson Taylor's

brother" – Mr. Anonymous – who gave up all to become famous! The

compelling passion of my life is to be filled with all the fullness of God

and come into the image of Jesus Christ. The deep cry of my heart is for

the satisfaction of knowing that my life counts for God. As God knows

my heart, it is not a selfish desire. The reason I want to be like Jesus is

because I love Him so, but also because it is the only way I can ever be

used in the restoration of fallen creation. I see the needs of the world

around me, and realize that I am practically powerless to do anything

about it. Oh Yes, I can pray, and give a little, and believe God, and see

occasional conversions, deliverances, and blessings. But anyone who

says that they have reached the place where their ministry is meeting the

needs of the world is either blind to the needs of humanity, a proud

hypocrite, or a compulsive liar. "Lord Jesus! Breathe Thy Spirit into all

who read these lines until we are like Thee in all of Thy ways that Thou

mayest be glorified and all creation blessed. Make us a center of

omnipotent God. May the great river of Thy love and grace and power

flow and flow and flow until the outflow of Thyself from our center

knows no circumference, enveloping all creation in Thy life and light

and love. Amen!"

Upon whom shall the Lord arise in the SEVENFOLD

BRIGHTNESS OF HIS INTENSIFIED GLORY AND POWER? We

trust that it shall be upon you and me. Today our hearts are expectantly

crying, “Oh Lord, let that sevenfold brightness be revealed, that the

glory of God shall so fill our lives that the radiance of Thy presence

shall fill the whole earth!” Amen!

To be continued… J. PRESTON EBY